Posts tagged ‘portland’

If you have read the “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon”, you would known about Minli who sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer.

Here is a magical shot from valley of Sandy River, as the full moon dances with the majestic Mount Hood. A big cheers for all the adventures and answers you seek for in the coming new year. A Very Happy New Year – 2016 to my Friends out here. May this new year be beautiful, sweet, creative, and happy one for you.

Eagle Creek Trail is just gorgeous and magical. The round trip hike to Tunnel Falls is 12 miles, but it is definitely worth even to hike up just to Punch Bowl (round trip ~ 3.4 miles). A stop off at 1.5 miles let you get a peek at the lovely Metlako Falls too. There are a few narrow sections with 500 foot plus drop offs. If you are worried about the height, several have a cable to hold onto on the uphill side.

Punchbowl Falls can be enjoyed from above or down below. When you finally get down to Punch Bowl Falls, the only way to see it, is to walk across the vast rocky stream and bingo – she is straight ahead with amazing view. Definitely plan on wearing waterproof boots or waders ! I was there around June and decided to venture into the water with bare foot. The water was still cold and the rocks slippery. It is not a pleasant feeling to hike back 2 miles in wet shoes either :)

Canon 7D : Tamron 18-270 mm : ISO 100 : 33 mm : f22 : 8.0 sec

If you are in sync with nature, there is beauty, even when things come crashing down, like the waterfall :)

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I love fall. I love the cool, crisp air and the way all the trees change color. I love the smell of the fallen leaves, their the crunching noise when dry and the beauty they add to any autumn scene dancing in water.

For a season that is preparing to get into hibernation, Autumn is just truly magical. Sure, everything is dying, but even that happens with so much grace and beauty. Is the magic of Autumn due to the colors or is it the art of letting go …

It was my first try with this technique, but boy it was fun. It was nice to meet and shoot with such a energetic group ! This particular shot was a result of two spins in parallel from the Bridge at Multnomah falls. How do u like the cookie monster ?!!! By the by, no monsters were harmed in the making of this shot :)

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How can someone compare a 35 foot falls with towering Multnomah Falls at 620 feet. How can such a small falls be treated in par with the Majestic Mt Hood or the iconic crater lake. You should visit the place to really appreciate it. Irrespective of its size, Punchbowl Falls is definitely a classic and iconic Oregon spot. If you have less than a day at Portland and love hiking – Eagle creek Trail definitely tops the list. Based on the time and stamina, you can decide to turn back at Punchbowl Falls (round trip –3.8 miles) or continue all the way up to Tunnel Falls (round trip 12 miles). The experience begins from the parking lot as you get started on the trail. The increase in elevation is pretty gradual. The lovely view of the river, the creeks & bridges, narrow trail (at places, just a little more than a feet) and wild flowers (depending on the season) makes the hike such a pleasure. At about 2 miles you will hit the Punch bowl Falls (upper) view point. This view helps admire the force with which water flows, creating the punchbowl. On the contrary, It is definitely worth hiking the extra mile (take diversion at the lower falls trail) to get this tranquil view.

the place was so serene and dreamy the water was so clear and cold thoughts, not so much feelings, probably abundant to sum up – it was just magical

Probably the punchbowl category of falls was defined after this falls at the Eagle creek wilderness, Oregon. The name so aptly fits it. The view point gives a grand view of the punch bowl. Compared to the others in Colombia George like Multnomah or Latourell, this is probably a smaller falls at ~30+ feet. Still it is pretty amazing to see/feel the forces of nature, that has created the punch bowl.

Crossing the line is sometimes good ;-) This was shot from the edge of the ledge, just a couple of feet beyond the fenced barricade.

One of the best ways to enjoy the Columbia George, at least to begin with, is by car. It gives a feel of the scenic vistas, hikes and the various point of interests spread along the way. This route is historic but definitely never gets old. Depending on the time of the year, the experience is varied. If you are lucky to be around there, just after continuous rain and the start of the spring, when the snow melt adds to it – u can see unnamed falls in literally every corner. This particular afternoon I was presented with the epic scene of multiple falls from across the river. Fortunately I was on the Columbia George scenic route and not the parallel I-84 highway. I was able to pull over, hike up a bit thru the trees to get a better view. Though afternoon, it was still foggy. It appeared heavenly, as the mist was kind of culminating down to the falls.

There are some amazing view(s) of Mt Hood when you drive on I84 or US 26. But there are very few places, where you can park and enjoy the view. This is from, one such pull out, right on US 26. Apart from the ample parking, you can get just across the fence, for a nice panoramic view. It is around the final curve before reaching Mt hood, when driving from Portland thru US 26. To be exact, here is the spot on Google maps .

This particular day, it was probably so cold that even the majestic Mt hood was trying to tuck herself in her own blanket of clouds. It was just magical to watch.

Though I do love the first snow, some how the days seems to be too cold and overcast this year. Winter is just here and I have already started dreaming of the fall and awaiting for the spring, ha ha ha … Anyways how is the weather there & how is winter treating you !!!

Some of the trips are amazing, because of the destination. Some because of the company you have. Some because of the car you drive. But many a times we don’t realize that the enroute journey itself, is quiet fulfilling and sometime much more than the destination. This week shot is from one such drive to enjoy the beautiful country side of Oregon, with no particular destination in mind. Not having any destination, allowed ample stop over to enjoy the amazing country side in the season of the fall. It was indeed a little overcast, but overall enjoyed the climate and the way this shot turned out.

So get a break… take ur car, just drive and hey don’t forget ur camera , how else can we partake in ur enjoyment :)

It is always a pleasure to shoot the Mt Hood, one of the crowning beauties of Portland. This week shot is direct from the camera with no post processing, captured during one of fun drives to the base of Mt Hood. This was shot on a sunny weekend afternoon. The play of light and exposure at the right areas created the interesting silhouette effect. Really liked the way this turned out, as opposed to a boring blown out snow pile, that I usually used to get !

Also for folks following me, this shot is a remembrance from my previous stay here at Portland. The last time (three years back), the camera that accompanied me was the trusted canon is s2, with which this was shot. Am back to Portland, OR on assignment. Looking forward to shoot and share the amazing sceneries of the northwest with my next DSLR going forward :)

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I am beginning to like the combination of HDR and long exposures. If you have not heard of HDR u might want to check this, this and this.

I challenged if, the indoor (the bookshelf with the lighting), the street in the back and the statue with the appropriate lighting could be captured, with out being washed out or under expososed. After a couple of long exposure , I decided to go with HDR and this is the result. How do u like it ?

This marble state is in front of the Standard Insurance building, Portland, OR (pushpin 1 – wow this is amazing, u could see where this statue is located, Tx live) . Though this is named "The Quest", I read the locals call it "The Three Groins in a Fountain".

Not sure y this statue is so notorious , while most of the other art work at Portland get much applause.

P.S : when I was looking for some information on the above , Google , yahoo and live.com failed to return appropriate results for "Portland statue" "Portland white marble stature" "Portland nude statue" and all combination. I finally got the information I was looking for from Flickr. Yes Flickr !!! – the photo sharing site.

Though the same in Google Image search and Live Image returned one of two images of the above , those sites did not have much information. In some cases it was a cached copy.

On the other had the tag search in Flickr gave the most appropriate results. Once I got the name of the statue (converted it to text – "The Quest" from the above image) Google was the King.

Flickr (and most of the social networking sites) are building up so much data around them and have a great potential to deliver things the machines are not yet able to perform well. Looking forward to how Yahoo (yes if u r not aware Flickr is part of yahoo) would leverage this toward Image Search.